Brian Corradi’s psyche rarely reeks of sensitivity. That’s not to say the Cleveland, Ohio-based tuner has no compassion, because he’s an honorable man who would provide the shirt off his back.

But, he’s as tough as they come and has proven to be one of the more talented crew chiefs in the nitro pits. His credentials include a U.S. Nationals victory and a handful of world records.

He’s been there done that, in more than a handful of situations, but 2008 provided a new and unique challenge. Brian Corradi’s psyche rarely reeks of sensitivity. That’s not to say the Cleveland, Ohio-based tuner has no compassion, because he’s an honorable man who would provide the shirt off his back.

But, he’s as tough as they come and has proven to be one of the more talented crew chiefs in the nitro pits. His credentials include a U.S. Nationals victory and a handful of world records.

He’s been there done that, in more than a handful of situations, but 2008 provided a new and unique challenge.

Corradi had simply never tuned a female driver before this year. He learned quickly to change his approach when dealing with the driver.

No, he’s not a sexist – he just felt an extra measure of protectiveness.

“It made me feel like it was my little sister in the driver’s seat so I didn’t want anything to happen to her,” Corradi admitted. “I felt I had to be extra careful because I didn’t want to hurt her, not that I ever want to hurt anybody.”

Corradi admits he knew Troxel was more than capable of driving the Funny Car and her exploits haven proven that in 2008. Still, he imposed upon himself the mindset to take a different approach with a driver of the opposite gender.

Case in point, he learned early the power of controlling his tongue.

“If it was my little brother I’d just tell him to get in the car and not %^&* anything up,” Corradi admitted, smiling. “With Melanie it’s like we’ll get you down there safely we don’t want anything to happen to you, you don’t have to be afraid.”

Troxel has definitely been anything but afraid in her transition from the relatively smooth experience of Top Fuel dragster to the volatile Nitro Funny Car world.

She responded by becoming the first female driver to become a winner in both nitro categories and scored the first female No. 1 qualifying effort in Funny Car.

Corradi is extremely proud of how Troxel has adapted to driving a breed of race car once believed to be too intimidating for a female driver. He smiles when he points out how she’s met this challenge head on.

“Melanie has come a long way as a driver since we first put her in a car back at Vegas,” Corradi said. “When I send her out there to make a run she does a real good job and I can loosen up a little bit. When I go out there to send her 330 miles an hour down the track I don’t really have to worry. I have 100% confidence that she will get the job done.”

In other words, when Corradi puts the “really nasty, hold on to the wheel” tune-up in the R2B2 Motorsports Dodge Charger, he has no problem telling her to clench the wheel a bit tighter than usual.

“I’ll tell her ‘This is what it’s going to do,” Corradi said. “She has it handled. I have a lot of confidence in the car and also her as a driver.”

Then Corradi smiles as he turns his wrench.